


Burn

by ireallydowritelikeimrunningoutoftime



Series: The Greatest Showman/Hamilton Crossovers [3]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda, The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Broken Promises, Charity isn't putting up with Phineas anymore, F/M, Heavy Angst, P. T. Barnum Being an Asshole, Poor Charity Barnum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:06:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24354769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ireallydowritelikeimrunningoutoftime/pseuds/ireallydowritelikeimrunningoutoftime
Summary: She watched the newspaper clipping burn until it was nothing but a pile of ashes in the fireplace. She wondered how she could have been so blind."Burn" with Charity / P.T.
Relationships: Charity Barnum/P. T. Barnum
Series: The Greatest Showman/Hamilton Crossovers [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757536
Kudos: 6





	Burn

She had saved every letter he wrote her. From the moment she read them, she knew he was hers, hers and nobody else's. He had proclaimed his undying love for her, sworn to never let her go. Every challenge, every obstacle thrown their way, they had faced together. He could no longer win her over with his empty words, his meaningless praises, his lies. "Charity, I never loved her, never wanted anything but you," he'd pleaded with her. "Please, believe me when I say nothing, nothing in the world matters to me as much as you." His attempts to reason with her didn't phase her for a second. If he had never loved the woman, if he had never once lost sight of his promise to her, if he had truly valued his family over his ambitions, he would have listened to his wife. But like the dreamer he was, he'd chased after glory, risked everything in hopes of seizing the fantasies he'd envisioned in his mind. The worlds he'd built without her. Broken promises and falsehoods were all that had come of it.

She held the match to the newspaper clipping before dropping it into the fireplace. She was filled with satisfaction as she watched it burn, with it burning her love, her trust, her world. Everything crumbling down into a pile of ashes. A few words caught her eye as they bled and melted into nothingness. Barnum. Lind. Scandal. Lies. They swam in her mind, over and over until they blurred into a hazy fog, filling her eyes with tears of fury and causing her to stumble. There was nobody to steady her now, nobody to catch her if she should fall.

"How could I have been so blind?" she whispered to the empty room, bare after all their belongings had been moved out. The walls made no reply. She shook her head angrily. "I should have seen it from the first concert. The way he looked at her..." she swallowed back her tears, clenching her fists, but she couldn't stop the flood of memories. The way he'd gazed at her, captivated, as he if he was under the effects of her spell; the way he'd stared directly into her eyes when bowing down to kiss her hand; the way he'd boasted to her parents, smiling charmingly at her as she flirted with him. From the very beginning, he'd lied to her. Not once, in all these years, had telling her even crossed his mind, not once had he considered that his brilliant plan might all of a sudden come crashing down. Well, it had, in the end, quite literally. She suddenly remembered the first time she'd met Jenny Lind. He'd been unable to look away from her, only torn his gaze for a brief moment to introduce her. Before then, she had only ever seen him looking at her that way. His eyes boring into her's all those years ago, when he had held her, whispered, "Always," into her ear. And she'd believed him. 

"Mommy, are you ready?" Caroline's call cleared her frenzied thoughts. Her eldest daughter pulled the door open and entered the room. "We have our things packed, Helen's been asking for you. I think she's having trouble fitting her dollhouse into the boxes."

"I'll be there in a minute, darling." Charity took a few deep breaths to steady herself.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, love?"

"Why did Daddy leave?" She met her daughter's eyes, wide with fear and concern, and hesitated before answering, averting her eyes.

"He didn't leave, Caroline, I send him away."

"Oh." She paused to consider this. "Mommy, will you have to leave too?" Charity froze, turning sharply to Caroline.

"What would make you think that?"

"Well," she explained a little hesitantly, "you and Daddy said you'd always be here with us, but Daddy's not, so me and Helen were wondering..." Charity closed her eyes, determined not to break down in front of her daughter.

"No, sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Caroline asked in a small voice that broke Charity's heart.

"Yes, I promise. Tell your sister as well. I- I just need to finish one last thing." Caroline nodded and scurried off to find Helen, giving Charity a moment to herself. She took one last look at the ashes of deceit, of betrayal, of her naiveness. But the past couldn't be erased, and lingering on it wouldn't take away the pain. She spun on her heel and exited the room, closing the door behind her, but not before whispering one last message to the cold, unforgiving walls.

"I hope that you burn."


End file.
